Energy repartition in the nonequilibrium steady state

Journal Article (2017)
Author(s)

Peng Yan (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

G.E. Bauer (Tohoku University, TU Delft - QN/Bauer Group)

Huaiwu Zhang (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

Research Group
QN/Bauer Group
Copyright
© 2017 Peng Yan, G.E. Bauer, Huaiwu Zhang
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.95.024417
More Info
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Publication Year
2017
Language
English
Copyright
© 2017 Peng Yan, G.E. Bauer, Huaiwu Zhang
Research Group
QN/Bauer Group
Issue number
2
Volume number
95
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Abstract

The concept of temperature in nonequilibrium thermodynamics is an outstanding theoretical issue. We propose an energy repartition principle that leads to a spectral (mode-dependent) temperature in steady-state nonequilibrium systems. The general concepts are illustrated by analytic solutions of the classical Heisenberg spin chain connected to Langevin heat reservoirs with arbitrary temperature profiles. Gradients of external magnetic fields are shown to localize spin waves in a Wannier-Zeemann fashion, while magnon interactions renormalize the spectral temperature. Our generic results are applicable to other thermodynamic systems such as Newtonian liquids, elastic solids, and Josephson junctions.